


Remedy

by orphan_account, RougemageNick



Series: Just a RWBY OS full of OCs... [19]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 04:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2375171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RougemageNick/pseuds/RougemageNick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teams JNAS and SCRT now have their advantage, and are scurrying to ready themselves for an attack on Xellos' freighter....But as they do....Leif is found back in the Forever Fall, and Nick and Sasha are ready for a final match against the man with the poison needles....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remedy

**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARTWORK, SEE THE NOTES BELOW. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. MZT1418, to those who are reading. Apologies for the inconsistent updates lately, but my focus has been elsewhere, as I've quite alot to handle. I will do my best though to update as often as I can.... Thanks for your patience.

Remedy:

Team SCRT walked in the door of the meeting room and took their seat and looked across at their team JNAS allies. Mickey and Alice sat near the foot of the long table, and they seemed quite serious. At this point, only two more members were expected to arrive for this meeting. Mickey nodded at team SCRT, "How've you kids been?" she asked casually. Sam glanced at Rachel, "We heard the news...Iskelle is dead?" Sam asked. Mickey nodded and the twins put their hands on the table. "Mickey, we've got a question for you....At the facility in the forest, after he attacked us, Xellos attacked team JNAS, and you saved them, yes? So does that mean you knocked him out? And if so, why didn't you take him in right then?" the twins asked in synchronization. Mickey sighed, "Several reasons...One, his body was still covered in a diamond armor...I couldn't have lifted him out of there if I wanted to. The only reason he was so mobile in it was because he could control it...But with him unconscious, it was basically dead weight diamond. And second, he was also buried under the rubble of the wall I destroyed.....And third...You kids were my priority. You guys needed medical attention quickly, as did team JNAS. I wasn't about to sacrifice your lives or futures to try and get Xellos...I'm sorry I made that call without consulting you, but most of you were unconscious and bleeding...Your lives mattered more." she said. The twins glanced between eachother, "Thank you Mickey....We're thankful that you saved our lives..." they said. Jay nodded, "I believe it's referred to as maternal instinct." he muttered. Mickey smiled, "Damn straight. You kids....I've got your back." she said, leaning back in her chair and lacing her hands behind her head. Nick chuckled, "Well you couldn't catch him then....So why don't we repay you by handling that fuckass for you." he remarked. Mickey pointed to him, "You'd better not die keeping yourself to that..." she demanded. Sam and Sasha laughed, "Not likely." Sam stated. Nick smirked towards Sam and nodded in approval. "Not likely at all.....Don't worry Mickey, I'll be there to bail there dumbasses out of any trouble..." Jay chimed in. Alice glanced at Anna, who sat next to her, on Sasha's left. "You seem a little more quiet than usual..." Alice said, addressing Anna. Everyone looked over to the two of them. Anna looked up and saw them all staring at her, "W-wait, w-what'd I do?" she asked a little nervously. Suddenly the door behind Mickey and Alice opened and the final two members arrived.

Headmaster Ozpin sat at the head of the table, to Jay's right, and Glynda sat to his right. Ozpin glanced around, "Glad we're all here....Now...To the matter of Iskelle Femmaren's death..." he began. Jay cleared his throat, "I'll be....Calling that one. It was a mistake on my part....A lapse in control that lead to her death rather than her capture..." he said. Ozpin raised an eyebrow, but Anna had already stood up. "No!!....It wasn't him....I killed Iskelle....She lured us into a trap, and after bringing her down, we could have captured her...We could have just brought her in....But I felt the only recourse for her was death, and my anger overtook me. It was not Jay's fault...He was out of his right mind..." she explained...Jay sighed...Ozpin looked up at her, "Yes, he must have been....According to my reports...He was seen jumping from a rooftop into the road and and threatening the life of a civilian....Then stealing their car...Then several counts of property damage later, that same redhead was seen in a fight with three other students...I would love an explanation to this...." he asked, turning to Jay. Jay shook his head, "I just.....Lost control. I'll pay the damages...." he responded simply. Ozpin nodded, seeming satisfied with this answer. "I suppose sometimes you've just got to.....Live it up." he smiled slightly. Nick cracked up at this and clapped a hand over his mouth before Glynda slapped her riding crop against the table and he stopped. Ozpin looked to Mickey, "Why was Iskelle's body not recovered?" he asked. Mickey did everything she could not to look at Anna, "Unfortunately she had some device on her that burned her body when she was dead. There was nothing to recover." she stated. Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "Curious...." he muttered. Team SCRT looked back and forth between Ozpin and Mickey...Ozpin shrugged, "I suppose that's that then...Now...The final subject...The freighter you and Alice found..." he began, looking around. Everyone glanced back and forth. Jay almost spoke when Ozpin began again, "I believe it is the proper course of action to leave this to you two teams." he said. Jay stopped...Glynda turned to Ozpin, "Are you sure it's best to leave the capture of a dangerous criminal in the hands of children? A criminal who, may I remind you, went toe to toe with a huntress and escaped..." she ranted.

Mickey scoffed, "Oh don't worry Glynda...We got this...My kids can handle it. I assure you Ozpin, you give them the chance to prove it, and they'll show you what they're capable of." she said, intentionally smirking at Professor Goodwitch. Glynda glared back at her. "Besides....They'll have Alice and I for support..." Mickey assured. Ozpin turned to Glynda and waved her hand down, "I trust them to handle this task. We will leave the freighter to you and your teams then, Mrs. Zephora." he said. Alice cleared her throat "When we flew over, it was clear they had the airspace well monitored....They also had several dozen smaller faster boats in the water space around freighter...They opened fire on our bird as we flew over." she explained. "Hm...But that wouldn't have been a problem for one of the best pilots in our employ...So what else can you tell us." he inquired. Alice smirked, "We flew over a total of three times, and were attacked all three times....Thermal scans show that the freighter is most certainly filled with Grimm...It appears there are also personnel though. Which we can take to indicate that the Grimm are the same as the modified test subjects that the Dragoon twins encountered at the facility in the woods...As far as we can tell though, that freighter is where we'll find Xellos...." she concluded. Ozpin nodded. The twins looked at eachother, "You guys can leave the Grimm to us. We can clear them out..." the twins said confidently. Sam nodded, "Yeah....We can handle a boatload of Grimm. Team JNAS can handle the personnel....And Xellos." he gestured to them. Team JNAS looked at eachother, "Yeah...You can leave Xellos and the rest of them to us..." Sasha insisted. Ozpin nodded and leaned back, "It would seem you kids are already arranging a plan no matter what I say...I believe you. You are capable of bringing Xellos in...And clearing out the Grimm." he nodded. Alice tapped Mickey's shoulder, "Leave the boats around the ship to us. We'll clear out those guards by air and give the kids the time and opportunity to get this done." Alice said. Ozpin stood and Glynda followed the example. "Well then. I'll leave the mission arrangements to you." he said simply, before walking from the room. Everyone glances around, slightly astounded at the exit. "Well that was fun..." Mickey beamed...

* * *

 

Everyone stayed seated, and glanced around for a second, trying to get everything straightened out in their heads for a minute. Suddenly Mickey cleared her throat, "So...What's the plan for this? I think we kinda just straightened out who's doing what once we're on the damn boat...But when, and what are we bringing?" she asked. Nick immediately spoke up, "Explosives!!" he said, looking around seriously. Everyone was slightly taken aback. Jay rolled his eyes, "That's not the most retarded idea, you know. We'll need something that can give us more killing power. Also, SCRT will have to deal with the Grimm...Explosives would certainly help clear the place out..." he muttered. Rachel spoke for the first time in the meeting, "But there isn't a bomb that would be powerful enough to take out Xellos without taking out the rest of us..." she said. Jay shook his head, "We won't be using a bomb for him. We're going to take him ourselves." he said. The twins clapped all four of their collective hands to the table, "But why don't we just take a big bomb in there and blow  **all** of them up?" they asked. Alice rolled her eyes and leaned forward, "Several reasons. First off, they're well prepared for air strikes. Even with my skill, I couldn't avoid every hit or attack. We can't guarantee the safety of any sizable payload to get close for a job like that. We'd get blown to bits ourselves...Even with escorts, if we started even moving towards them with a force large enough to protect said payload, Xellos' would probably start railgunning us out of the sky...And if he can make a small railgun with ease like Mickey told me about, who knows how big of a gun he could make...We'd never get past him alone. And as you can probably imagine, if we were to try a stealth mission with a bomb that powerful, we probably wouldn't be able to get out of it's blast radius in time. Lastly, even if we placed a bomb on a timer, it'd end up just sitting there long enough for him to find and disable it...There's no way to just blow them all to bits. Sorry kids." everyone sat wide eyed for a few seconds.

"So we don't use anything big. Just small explosives...Things that could injure or kill at only short range." Anna chimed in. Sasha looked over at her and put her shoulder around her, "Yeah...What my girl here said. Oh!" she glanced over at Jay, "Could we use something that bounces? Like around corners? Take em out before they know we're there?" she asked excitedly. Jay shrugged, "Whatever...I'll work on that." he said. Anna looked around Sasha's shoulder at him, "Thank you Jay..." she said, smiling. Jay glanced over and smiled back. "Uh...Let's not have anything bouncy for us though." Sam added. "Alright...So Jay will work on some sort of...Bouncy bomb...We'll get those in good supply before we go. And I'm gonna go get my sword ready for use. You guys can...Uh..." Nick trailed off. Jay spoke up, "Team SCRT can come with me...Once I've got a good design for those bombs...Shouldn't take long...I'll need people to help me make plenty of them." he said quickly. Team SCRT glanced at eachother. "We can do that..." Rachel chimed in for a moment. "If you need me, I can help you as well Jay..." Anna said, glancing over at Jay. Jay immediately sat forward and looked at her, "That would be fantastic. I would value your help." he said, smiling brightly. "I think I'll go with you into town...Best keep in pairs, you know?" Sasha said, nudging Nick's side. "Alice, could you take us into town?" Nick asked. Alice only nodded. Mickey stood up, "I think I'mma find us a way to get close to Xellos' fleet." she said. Everyone stayed silent for a moment. Sam raised his right arm suddenly, "Break!!!" he shouted. Immediately, everyone stood, taking the opportunity to go and get ready. Mickey and Alice left first. Mickey kissed Alice on the cheek before walking off. Alice stood waiting for Nick and Sasha to catch up for a minute. Jay lead Team SCRT and paused for a moment, waiting a moment for Anna, lacing their hands and continuing. Sam nudged Rachel and gestured towards them. The twins followed their gaze and saw their hands, then  ran around and jumped towards them, Chris putting his arm around Jay and Tia putting hers around Anna. Jay glared at Chris for a moment and used his free hand to remove Chris' arm, "No. Don't touch." he muttered.

"So when did  **this** happen?" Tia asked happily. "I had a bit of an episode about two days ago...Anna brought me out of it...And it just kinda...Happened." Jay replied. Chris and Tia grinned at eachother, "Wow...You're a lucky bastard, Jay..." Tia said. Both Jay and Anna's eyes widened, "Wait, what?" Anna asked, both of them very confused. Tia nodded, "I said he's lucky to have a hot chick like you..." Tia said, glancing over Anna's curves. Anna turned a little red, "Tia, are you attracted to me?" she asked straight out. Tia nodded. "Why wouldn't she be? She's gay..." Chris said. Jay looked at him, "Really...Alright then..." he said. Tia glanced smugly at her twin and nodded. Chris chuckled and put his arm around Jay's shoulder, "Oh, you didn't see that coming? I guess that's why you also didn't guess that I'm  **also** gay..." he muttered casually. Suddenly Jay's face turned incredibly red, "Are you hitting on me?! My girlfriend is literally standing right next to me!!" he exclaimed, clearly flustered. Chris and Tia both broke out in roaring laughter, doubling over as they walked. Jay, still red, turned to Anna, "Just so you know, I don't think of Chris that way. You're th-" "I know Jay...And I also wouldn't think of Tia that way. She may be cute, but she's not you..." Anna assured him. Jay raised an eyebrow, "You're bisexual?" he asked. Anna nodded, "Is that a problem?" she asked, becoming slightly nervous. Jay frowned and thought for a moment, "Why would that be a problem?" he asked. Anna's eyes widened when she heard the genuine question. "Oh, I don't know...Competition?" she tested, carefully awaiting Jay's response. Jay smirked, "Oh please. Something Mickey's always said is that if you feel the need to compete for the love of your partner, you're with the wrong person. And besides, a goddess like you wouldn't chose a guy like me unless you genuinely loved me. I trust you completely." he stated confidently. Anna was taken aback for a moment, but smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, "Mickey's a genius...?" she asked. Jay thought for a moment, "As for me...I don't want to betray the first girl who's loved me...I think you're worth loving...I think you're worth my life...So I'd rather not jeopardize what we've got with actions far below my intelligence level." he said. "That does sound quite reassuring..." she said. Jay thought for a moment longer, "And besides, if I ever did, Mickey would slice me limb from limb..." he remarked. Anna chuckled for a second and smiled, "Now **that's** reassuring..." she said. Jay looked at her, "Such a lovely smile...You're quite beautiful when you smile." he cheered. Anna turned red for a moment and glanced away, "What a cliche line..." she mumbled, smiling anyway. "Cliche, perhaps. But that does not make it less true..." he chimed back. "Damn...He's good at this..." Sam remarked as they continued on.

* * *

 

Alice nodded as she lifted off again, waving down to Nick and Sasha. The two watched until she'd flown off to turn and begin walking. Under Nick's left arm was the bundle that held every bit of Nick's sword that he could recover from that night. Two large halves and a few chips of black metal. "So are we going to Grant again?" Sasha asked, holding Nick's right hand in hers. "Yeah...He has the dust supply and equipment we need to repair my blade...And I'm hoping he's got something special for the design...He usually does. I'm happy to pay extra, because that guy's got some real fuckin' skill with making great weapons better." Nick smiled. "I think you're just hoping for some new toy to use against Xellos..." Sasha smirked, pushing him playfully. Nick chuckled, "Maybe...Ok, I admit, that's exactly what I'm hoping for. Xellos is gonna get the beating of his life...And Leif is next on that list...Actually, I don't care who I find first." he said smugly, holding the bundle a little tighter. Sasha nudged at her sword and chuckled, "Yours is way smaller than mine..." she joked. Nick laughed for a minute as they walked. "Well don't worry...When it's repaired, I'm sure you'll be pleased with its' performance..." he retorted slyly. Sasha chuckled, then laughed more loudly. "I'm not so sure...Alot of the time, your hand seems to do better work than that..." she teased smugly. Nick laughed again, pushing her a little and considering a response. "Well you haven't even seen my full proficiency with either tool, so I wouldn't say that just yet..." he responded confidently. Sasha raised her eyebrows and chuckled again. "Well I can't wait for you to show me your real abilities...I hope your firepower can match up to those words..." she said. Nick laughed again for a minute, "Alright, you win. Your powers of innuendo far outmatch my own." he admitted, mocking a bowing motion. Sasha smiled and waved like a royal, acknowledging her victory. They turned their third corner on their way to Grants. After a minute, Nick glanced over and watched Sasha. She seemed a little absent, as though lost in thought. "Lien for your thoughts?" he muttered. Sasha looked at him from the corner of her eye, "I was just thinking about this...What exactly is Xellos doing...With the Grimm...Why is he experimenting with them? Making a secret army? To what...Overthrow the Remnants of men? Something tells me Xellos has different goals...And I think you agree." she responded. Nick nodded, "He doesn't seem to be interested in any position of power...He seems much more content with living in the shadows...I'm not sure. Let's ask him when we put him in his place during the mission." he said surely.

Sasha nodded, "Do you think we're a match for him now?" she asked. Nick considered this a minute, "Well we bested Mickey..." he stated. Sasha frowned, "With Team SCRT in the fight...She's not to be messed around with. And I think...As powerful as she is, I think the only reason that she beat Xellos the first time was that he wasn't prepared for her. He marched right in ready to take care of us, but a huntress like Mickey...I don't think he expected that, and she used that to her advantage to win. I think if they went head to head again...Who knows who'd win then..." she trailed off. Nick released her hand and took the bundle in his both hands, holding it out, "Well...I suppose we'll just have to bring our best then. If I were a gambling man... Which I am...I'd bet on us. Call it a gut feeling." he smirked, returning the bundle to under his arm. Sasha grinned, "You've got that much confidence in us?" Nick moved his head this way and that, "Well there's Jay...Whose eyes can both literally and metaphysically see the world in motion. Anna, whose skill and speed would probably outmatch Xellos if she was fighting like she did against Jay. You, with your....Godlike strength and willpower. And me...I pride myself on my ability to stay alive. I think between the four of us...We'll bring Xellos down." said confidently. Sasha was silent for a minute before she put her hand to her chin in mock consideration, "Godlike strength? Willpower? Is that how you see me?" she asked. They turned another corner. "When you're in battle...Otherwise, mostly I see your brilliant personality. Don't take anyone's shit...Standing up for the people who deserve it...You're a very fair person most of the time...But they you do that thing when you get angry and are quite ruthless...It's really sexy..." Nick muttered. Sasha smiled and rolled her eyes. "Thank you...You've also got alot of charm...You're pretty fair-minded. It's a whole... People get what they deserve kinda thing with you...And something else is those gut feelings. I don't know why, but they're really accurate...And I love to hear it." she responded. They crossed the street and Nick reached out, opening the door to Grant's shop and letting Sasha enter first. The bell rang and they waited for a minute before they heard the scrambling from the back. Grant crashed through the door at the back of the shop and fell over nearly instantly. Nick and Sasha ran around to see it he was ok. He got up coughing and wheezing. Nick sighed, "Did you try baking again? Dude...That's never gone well for you..." he said, brushing black crumbs off Grant's shoulder. Grant shook his head, "I will get this, damnit. I can build and rebuild ovens hours, I don't care how long it takes, but I  **will** learn to use one." he insisted, still coughing a little.

He sat down in the chair next to his table, "Damn...You guys are just busy busy busy, aren't you...Three visits in two months, that's a new record for any one customer." he joked. Nick rolled his eyes and set the bundle next to Grant. Grant tentatively unwrapped the bundle, his eyes widening as he saw it's contents. "How the fuck did this even go down..." he said in surprise. Nick sighed, "Got into a bad fight with the wrong guy. It wasn't his fault though, he may as well have been drunk out of his mind for all the sense he had. But he was still an opponent who knew exactly where to strike." Nick explained. Grant pulled out a dusty looking scroll and opened it, starting up a personal app that he'd programmed himself and began to scan the broken sword. He put the scroll down while it continued gauging the analysis and began examining the blade himself carefully looking over the pieces. He picked up his scroll again and examined the results of the scan. After a minute of consideration, he swiveled his chair over to look at Nick, "Well I can certainly repair it. There's enough material, and I can handle most of the damage and missing chips. He picked his scroll back up and looked it over again. Nick cleared his throat, "I was wondering if you had anything you could do to improve it as well, while we were repairing it..." Nick asked. Grant looked up at him and stayed silent for a moment. "I'll triple your rate." he muttered hopefully. Grant smiled, "Always a pleasure working for you. Ok...Anything...Hm..." Grant considered for a moment and then suddenly grabbed Nick's hand and looked it over carefully. "I think I can manage something." he muttered. Nick smiled, "Fantastic. When do we start?" he asked happily. Grant stood and bundled the sword up again, lifting it up and walking to the back room. "Immediately." he shouted. Nick followed and Sasha went after them.

Grant tossed the bundle to Nick and motioned for him to catch up as he marched through. Nick watched as Grant took out a pen and immediately went about changing the design of the sword on his scroll. He thought for a minute about the blades size and decided to make it single edge, extending the length by a small amount...He went through several different functions of the application to arrange a working pommel, handle, and hilt. He fiddled with different designs for the blade, every now and then glancing at Nick trying to decide whether the current piece in question would work. All the while the walked to the very back of the room and Nick opened the door. They walked down a flight of stairs into a very large, well lit room with a concrete floor. There were rows of tables everywhere, separated by large machines for various purposes in creating or changing or repairing. On one wall was a very large cabinet hanging open. It was filled with large jars of various dusts. Sasha walked behind them but not with them. When she saw the large room, she wanted to walk around and look at things. "You work down here alone?" she called over to Grant. "Yup. I'm pretty much a shut in, you know...I prefer the silence. And this room affords it to me. Alot of these machines are actually my own creations. Nick acquired many valuable parts for me back in the day, so now I've got this whole set up. No one really knows about it though, and I'd prefer to keep it that way...You can look around, but try not to touch anything that looks broken or not finished. And I could use the extra hands to finish this quickly, if you wouldn't mind taking a few instructions now and then." he called back Sasha nodded absently, looking through the cabinet of common, mixed, and exotic dust and dust crystals. She spotted a container filled with black sand-like dust that reminded her of Xellos' attacks. She picked it up off the shelf and read the label, "Iron dust? What the hell is Iron dust for?" she asked loudly. Grant and Nick were carefully unbundling the sword after Nick had retrieved a large stone pot and cap for Grant, "Oh, that? Various purposes in metal-work and smithing. It's actually valuable stuff...You know you can make really powerful steel if the purity of the dust is good...Just a pinch of wind dust and metal will sparkle like silver but cut like nothing you've ever seen." he ranted.

Sasha smirked and replaced the dust. Grant looked up and noticed her, "Actually, I may need that. And the fire dust, if you don't mind. And dust form only, not the crystals, please." he asked. Sasha grabbed the Iron dust and looked over the shelf for a minute, finding Fire dust and taking both containers around two of the rows of tables, then placing them on the table next to Nick and Grant. Nick removed the bottom half of the blade from the handle and they put all the black metal into the stone pot Nick had retrieved. Grant took a cup off the table to his left and took the cap off the fire dust, filling the cup halfway with the stuff and gently pouring it in the container over the metal. Nick put the cap on and twisted it into place. "Alright, I'm going to start..." Grant glanced around for a minute, trying to identify the machine he was looking for, before realizing that he'd chosen this counter for a reason and gestured to the one a little ways to the left. "I'm going to start this machine here, and we're going to put this in there. That machine will safely cause a slow reaction of the fire dust and melt down the metal. This kind of metal...We should be able to use a mold and just straight out forge the blade immediately. It's quite a rare kind of blade you've got there, Nick." he said, walking over to the machine. He took the door and heaved a little, but the heavy door barely moved. Sasha stepped forward and pulled open the door, cracking the hardened metal that made the machine difficult to open. Grant looked at Sasha wide eyed. "Remind me not to piss you off." he muttered. Nick carried the jar over and place it on the large platform inside and pushed it in a little, then closed the door and locked it. Grant walked over and began to fiddle with the interface, setting it for a few minutes.

Immediately, he walked around to another machine and opened up a small drawer on the side of it, revealing a soft metallic substance. "Alright...Now...We set the mold." he said enthusiastically. He placed his scroll on a small clip position on the wall and input the design. He took the bag of Ice dust that lay on the table next to the drawer and pulled it close. The metal turned slightly red as Grant pulled large black fingered gloves. He took up two metal chisel like pikes and began to chip away at the metal. The metal was more soft with the heat under the drawer and chips came off easily, flying off the table into a large pan on the ground that was placed to catch the metal. He put on of the chisels down and picked up another, with a corner looking end and began to cut out the back of the mold, making it flat, then cutting out an angle for a blade edge. "In here, there's going to be a special type of clay that's heated up and fitted to create an exact other half of the whole mold we'll be using...The metal you've got...It's quite incredible...It could be heated up, then pretty much molded right away...The last step will be dust application so that the blades integrity won't be threatened again." he explained. Sasha frowned, "Uuuugh. Dust App. That was the hardest part of forging a weapon...At Signal, they had experts to teach the basics of that shit so the students didn't fuck up, but gods, that shit was still hard as fuck." she groaned. Nick chuckled for a second at that. Grant smirked, "Well I may not have gone to a Hunter/Huntress academy like you kids, but I  **did** go to college and got masters in Dust Chemistry and Practical Applications...So I know this stuff pretty well." he said. Sasha's jaw dropped. Nick nodded and looked up at her, "What...Oh come on Sasha, did you really expect a guy like this to not have an education? Do you know how much people pay him for his skills? Come on..." he looked sidelong at her. She shook the surprise from her expression and watched Grant carve.

"In her defense, I understand the stereotypes about guys like me...And also, I already had a gift with machines, I bet I wouldn't have needed to...But I really wanted to. Get a little respect for my craft, you know?..." he spoke a little absently, focusing intently on his carving. He had just began carving a small spike on the bottom end for the handle. After he was satisfied with all the detail work, he stood and pushed the drawer back into the machine, then fiddled with the interface again and removed his scroll. He tapped on the handle of the blade on the design and turned it over on the interface, examining it carefully. "The handle comes next?" Sasha asked. Grant nodded and want to a cupboard on the wall again, opening it and examining an incredible array of different handle parts. "Did you make  **all**  of these?!?" Nick asked in surprise. Grant nodded and plucked one of the handle shafts off one shelf, then looked around for a small round plate, a hand-guard, and a fitting pommel. He walked over to a table and took a long flat blade looking tool and fitted it to the top of the handle and began digging it inward, carving out the position for the blade, scraping it out one of the sides. "Uh...Won't that gap in the side cause the blade to slip?" Sasha asked. Grant shook his head, "Actually, that's what we're going to use to make sure it  **doesn't** do that...When the blade is fitted to the handle, we'll treat this gap with iron and fire dust, and basically weld the blade into the this handle. We'll also treat the surface, then wrap it so the grip is good, and the pommel to make the bottom of the blade a little more safe to touch and make the blade look better anyway...The handguard will slide over the blade carefully while the iron dust is still soft, and make that strong as well...You see? Iron dust has many applications, and with the fire dust, we can treat it to become rust proof, so the handle's integrity is also assured." he explained. Suddenly, two loud dings rang out at the same moment.

"ALRIGHTY THEN!!! IT'S TIME TO START THE PARTY!!!! Nick, go pull out the mold, it'll be hot, take it to the open space at the other end of the room. Sasha, grab some heat proof gloves, I need some help getting that jar of hot metal out. You're going to pour it into the mold with the small lip in the jar. While she's doing that, Nick, ready the cooling machine. We'll get this in there and cool the liquid metal asap. Break!!!" he shouted. Everyone scrambled suddenly for their given jobs. Sasha ran over and grabbed two gloves on the way, Grant slipping on one himself as he got to the door. Nick ran to the molding machine and pulled open the large hatch on the back and switched to the fire canister in his hand, using the gem on his palm to ready the prosthetic for the heat, taking the glove Grant didn't put on and reaching in with both hands, carrying out a large rectangle of heated clay which was already very solid, with nothing but a little hole on the top. Sasha pulled open the door and pulled the jar with ease. Grant used his glove to pull the top off, then placing it on the table. Sasha ran over to where Nick was placing down the mold, on a large open space in the concrete. She carefully turned the jar a little to identify the lip and poured into the small gap in the mold. "Slowly!!! Very slowly!!!" Grant insisted. She slowed down a little and continued pouring. When she was finished pouring all the metal, they could just see the metal on the edge of the mold. "Alright...We need to ice the end of it so it doesn't go spilling out. Metal like this won't cool as quickly as others, so that'll also give a good head start. Nick stepped forward and switched to the ice canister, only letting a small amount of ice power drip from the crystal on his palm. The drop hit the edge and the metal cooled quickly from it's grey color to its ebony shade. "The clay should be cool by now. Sasha, if you would please..." Grant gestured. She nodded and picked up the clay with one simple motion, carrying it over to the cooling machine and slipping it into the fridge-like structure. Nick closed the door and they all sighed. "Now, we wait a while."  **  
**

They stood around while Grant's scroll counted down the cooling time. They continued chatting, teasing at Sasha for her faux-pas about Grant's education and laughing casually about it. Grant explained that his process was based on some of the most early methods of a process called blacksmithing and silversmithing, wherein fine tools and large weapons were forged by folding and pounding metal to increase integrity before heating it and treating it. This was a process that was changed with the power of dust, with which weapons were forged that could stand up to the power of the Grimm. Grant explained that nowadays, weapons are far more powerful than they've ever been. Sasha was listening with rapt attention, clearly eager to learn more about the history of weapon making, but the timer dinged before too long. She sighed and Grant nodded, "Alright. Now we pull it out and input it to the handle...Then there's handle treated blah blah blah, let's finish this!!" he said, his voice filled with enthusiasm. Nick opened the freezer and Grant pulled the large clay mold. Sasha stood by, hoping to take it off his hands, as he looked to struggle just a little, but he insisted he could handle it, and placed it flat on the ground. He sighed and dusted his hands off, gesturing Sasha over. She stepped up and easily cracked mold open. The blade shined pure black. Nick grinned immediately. The blade was single-edged, and there were what looked like a fine line running down the back of the blade that had several other lines off splitting from it over to the edge, but didn't connect to the edge itself. Grant carefully lifted the blade. "Sanding time." he muttered. He walked over to a seat near a large machine and pulled on some goggles and switched the machine on, which began to spin a small ribbon of sandpaper, then pressed the blade to the sand. "This might take a few minutes. I'm just gonna sharpen then clean up the edges of the blade. That's all." he shouted over the sound of the machine.

Nick stood talking with Sasha as they looked around. They joked a little more about suggestive swords and innuendos, then began to discuss differing ships they had of other students. After about an hour, the machine turned off, and Grant removed his goggles and stood. "HERE WE GO!!" he shouted in triumph. Nick and Sasha ran over immediately. Grant gently handed the blade to Nick to examine for his own. Nick marveled at his weapon remade. The edge was now sharp enough to cut steel or stronger, and the edges were sanded to a smooth finish. Nick laughed to himself, giddy with the feeling of the metal. Grant took it carefully from his hands and walked back over to the first table where they'd placed the handle parts. Grant carefully fitted the non-sharp edge to the handle and began carefully spreading Iron dust over it, then smoothing it carefully with fire dust. He repeated this twice around the whole of the handle, He asked Nick to go over to another table and pick out two colors of cut cloth to bring over. He chose red and black and carried the cloth over to the table. Grant wrapped the two clothes in a crossing pattern down the length of the handle. After he'd covered it and run the cloth from the top of the handle to the bottom, he repeated the iron and fire dust process one more time at the very base of the handle and fitted the pommel to the end, letting the Iron dust weld with the fire dust to the base of the handle. Sasha was watching Grant slide the handle guard over the blade, being careful not to touch the sharp edge. He paused for a moment to treat the top edge of the handle with iron and fire dust one more time and quickly placed the hilt into place. After a minute, he tested the integrity of both sides. Neither pommel nor handguard budged. Nick frowned, "What's that?" he said, gesturing to the small plate fitted to the back of the handle, which had a small indent in it. Grant smiled, "Your new extra toy." he said simply.

He lifted the blade and handed it to Nick, then took Nick's left hand. "Start up a dust canister." he said. Nick nodded and switched to the fire canister, activating it lightly. Grant then took his hand and placed the small gem on his palm into the indent. The dust ran along the lines that were gently carved into the blade and flowed down the smaller cracks. Suddenly the blade was alight with fire, which ran up the blade. Nick's eyes widened and his and Sasha's jaws dropped. Nick laughed and slashed the blade through the air several times. The fire dust ran out and the blade was extinguished. The blade was not affected by the fire at all. Grant nodded, "Again. With each element." he said. The blade was covered in a chilly aura with the ice dust and the air was filled with ice crystals when he slashed. When he tried wind dust, the blade was covered in a wind, and the blade was light as a feather. "In this state, you could throw the blade, and have the wind carry it back to you." Grant explained. Nick smiled and slashed, throwing off small sharp gusts of wind. He tried earth dust and small amounts of dirt fell from the blade, and it was slightly heavier. But when he swung it, it swung with incredible force. Grant nodded, "Dust treatment is completel..." he muttered. Nick laughed, "HOLY FUCK, have you outdone yourself. DAMN..." he shouted happily. Sasha smiled while watching him. Grant held out a sheath. Nick frowned, "You had a sheath ready?" he asked. Grant nodded, "I just used a design that I could easily modify to a good sheath like this one. Which is well fitting." he said. Nick attached the sheath to his back and carefully sheathed his new blade, edge up, dust panel down. He smiled and pulled out his scroll, "How much. Any number. Come on." he commanded. Grant smiled and input the amount to transfer, which Nick approved. Grant took them back up to the shop, "Alright guys...Thanks for coming by. I'll see you next time." he said. Nick and Sasha nodded and opened the door, walking out. Sasha teased Nick on the way to the airfield about how happy he was with his new toy, and that she was sure he'd use it properly. Nick called up Alice, "Hey Alice, we're going to grab lunch and meet you at the airfield...If you could pick us up..." he asked. "I can do that... But...Nick? We uh...We have some news for you..." she responded seriously. Nick's expression turned serious and he looked at Sasha, "What's up?" he asked. Alice was silent for a moment, "......Leif's been spotted in the Forever Fall."

* * *

 

Nick threw open the door to the cafeteria and strood in. Sasha sighed, putting her hand to her forehead as she followed him in. The room was empty except for Jay, Anna, and team SCRT. They were working on cutting out rubber molds of two different colors and fitting the insides with the explosive dust crystals and reactive timers. Anna sat next to Jay, and team SCRT sat across from them. Jay turned and watched Nick carefully as Mickey walked up to face him. "When do we leave for the forest." Nick demanded.The two looked eachother in the eyes, and Mickey crossed her arms. Mickey wasn't responding. Jay watched carefully..."When...Do...We leave." Nick demanded again. Mickey cleared his throat and Jay stood. "You guys can't just go out and attack Leif on a whim." she said. Nick chuckled, "On a whim? No...We're bringing him in. On our terms. We can do this ourselves." he said. Sasha smiled and walked up next to him. "Do you not trust that we can?" she asked, also crossing her arms. "That a new sword, Nick?" Jay asked suddenly, walking up next to Mickey, holding his hands behind his back. Nick raised an eyebrow, "Outta left field, but yeah. It is. And I want to-" "To what? To go out and face a dangerous criminal with a new weapon you've never used in practical combat? You have stupid ideas sometimes, but that one sets itself apart..." Jay said sarcastically. Team SCRT had stopped working to watch what was going down. Nick frowned, "You're not dissuading us. We're going after Leif. This right here is just the formality of offering you the chance to help us make it easier. If you don't want to help us, fine. We'll still go after him." Nick stated. Sasha glanced over at the handle of the new blade, "Besides...He may have never used it, but it's leagues beyond his old one. I wager given the chance to use it, he'll be far better at the start with this weapon. Why don't you just let us show you. There's nothing you can do to stop it...He's out there, and we're going to bring him in." she explained. Jay and Mickey shared a look and Jay turned and sat back down. Mickey sighed and pulled out her scroll, bringing up the coordinates of the camera bug that spotted Leif. "Here...As far as I can tell...He's just waiting. The bug isn't tracking him because...Well, he's not moving. We're not really even sure if he even knows we're watching him. He hasn't looked at the bug...He's in the same place he was the first time you fought him...He's just sitting there, carving a rock with a blade looking needle. We're also not sure how long he'll be there. So get there. Quickly." she said.

Nick smiled and turned to Sasha, "You want to see my new blade in action?" Nick asked casually. Sasha smirked, "Just try to keep up." Sasha responded as they began to walk out again. Jay cleared his throat loudly, "Hey fuckass...Don't die." he said without turning to Nick. Nick laughed and kept walking, "Well you won't be there to nag me, so I'm not gonna be fine..." Nick yelled back. The door closed behind them and Mickey sighed, going and sitting next to Anna, cutting out more of the rubber molds and assisting with the bombs. "So what do you guys think?" she asked. "I think they'll be fine. Something tells me Leif is waiting to see them..." Sam said. Mickey raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?" she asked...Sam shrugged. Jay glanced at Anna every now and then intentionally. "Careful with that, Anna..." he muttered. Anna frowned and glanced at him, "What? But I've been doing this all morning, I know what I'm doing..." she responded. Jay nodded, "You most certainly are quite good with your hands, but the problem isn't your caution...These bombs are very secure and all, but may still explode if exposed to something as hot as you are..." he stated. The entire table went silent for a minute. "......Damn, son. Be careful not to slip on them smooth-ass words..." the twins said together after the silence dragged on. Anna's face turned bright red and Mickey started laughing. Sam smiled and clapped a couple of times as Jay leaned over and kissed Anna on the cheek. "You're pretty good with your words..." Sam said, still chuckling. "So I'm discovering..." Jay muttered in response. Rachel rolled her eyes, "That was sickeningly sweet..." she muttered. Jay and Anna went back to their work, both of them still smiling, Anna still red-faced. Mickey was trying to stop herself from laughing, but couldn't seem to, "I think I once used that exact line on Alice!!!" she managed between bouts of laughing..."I think the proper thing to take away from that is that you and her were once in close quarters with a bomb at one point or another..." Jay remarked...

* * *

 

Nick and Sasha ran through the forest at full tilt, wanting to get to Leif as soon as possible. They leapt over the body of whatever crossed them as Sasha cut them down and Nick shot them dead, mowing a path for them. They easily found the path that had led them to Leif and Iskelle the first time and followed it step for step. When they got to the clearing in the forest, they saw him. He sat facing them, still carving away at the stone he'd picked up. "I thought you'd never get here..." he muttered, not taking his eyes from the blade. Nick put his gun back into it's holster and drew his blade. Leif glanced up at him, "Don't be so eager..." he urged. Nick faltered for a moment...Then started walking towards Leif. His cylinder was to his right, and he didn't even bother reaching for it. Nick stopped at the middle of the clearing and looked back at Sasha, who was also glancing around the clearing, moving forward slowly..."What, no poison fog this round?" Sasha asked. Leif shook his head. Nick looked at Sasha again and they thought for a moment. Sasha sheathed her blade. "If you're not here to fight...What  **are** you here for? To turn yourself in?" Nick demanded. Leif chuckled, "Oh no...I'm here to fight alright. But I've got a few questions." he said casually. Nick frowned, "We're not here to talk. Stand up. Let's get started already." he commanded. Leif shook his head and looked up at Sasha, "Is he always so straight-to-the-point?" he asked simply. Sasha shrugged, "More or less..." she answered. Nick looked at Sasha, "He- oh forget it, it's true." he said, turning back to Leif. "So tell me...Do you honestly believe you can stop Xellos?" Leif asked both of them. Nick smirked, "Oh Monty, are you going to do some villainous rant abou-" "It's an honest question. Do you believe you can stop Xellos." Leif interrupted, pushing the question again. Nick's smile disappeared, "Hell yeah." he answered. Sasha nodded, "He's got alot to answer for. And we're gonna make sure he pays for all of it." she said confidently. Leif watched them carefully as they answered. After a second of examining them, he put the rock to the side and stood up, taking the handle of his cylinder in his right hand. "Alright. How 'bout we begin...On the condition that you continue to answer my questions..." he offered. Nick opened his mouth to say something, but Sasha got to it first, "We accept." she called quickly. Nick looked at her with wide eyes. She smirked and nodded to him, unsheathing her sword and gesturing to Leif. Nick sighed and unsheathed his own blade. "Fine." he conceded.

Leif smiled as he tapped away on the triggers, "New blade...That fourth member of your team? Did he cause that?" he inquired as he caught the needles, tossing them to his left hand. Nick nodded, "And now I'm gonna sharpen it on your bones. Unless you decide to turn yourself in now...In which case, you may even have the privilege of being **conscious** when we drag you back to Beacon." he fumed. Leif chuckled, "Then let's see what you got, kid." he said, charging towards Nick. Nick waited, but Sasha moved ahead to slow him down. Leif slowed just a step as Sasha came upon him and slashed. She accessed her strength more openly and swung her blade like it was light. But Leif raised the cylinder, blocking her horizontal slash and throwing his hand upward, tossing Sasha back slightly, but she recovered in time to block his club swing. Leif was quick though, and the long pike needles in his left hand came up to attack her. Nick was already on them though, and blocked the needles as he jabbed. Some of the ice dust contained in the needles sprinkled onto Nick's sword and Nick grinned, placing his left palm on the plate and lighting up his blade with fire. Leif's eyes widened and both Sasha and Nick pushed hard, tossing Leif back off his feet. He landed and rolled back into his stance again however, and tossed the ice needles. Nick raised his blade and stepped forward a little, using the Fire Blade to slice each needle apart with deadly precision. Sasha moved around him and ran towards Leif, who began to remove more intricate needles that looked like spirals, this time tossing them in wide arcs. They needles spun through the air, unleashing wind dust and slicing the air itself as it traveled. Nick and Sasha smiled a little, remembering days of dodging Mickey's sickle-like winds and deadly vortexes. They easily picked apart the pattern of his needlework and moved in. "So tell me...What do you think you'll lose in the fight with Xellos?" Leif questioned as the fought on. The fire on Nick's blade went out as he placed his palm on the plate, covering the blade in wind dust. He slashed through the air, throwing the needles off course. "Not. A damn...THING!!" Nick shouted back. "You may have been weak...He may have taken your lives from you...But he's taken enough!! We're going to take him down!!" Sasha grunted as she moved, pushing past the winds.

Leif continued jumping back and around, and began to pull out smaller needles, tossing them towards the wind needles and causing reactions with the remaining wind dust, causing powerful bursts of wind and throwing Nick and Sasha around. Sasha had had enough though, and jumped back, shooting towards Leif herself. Leif blocked with his cylinder and removed a blade like needle as Nick got in close. "You say that you'll lose nothing...How's that possible...I can see you for who you are. I see so much of me and Iskelle...In every last one of you!!" Leif shouted to them. He took Nick on in close combat, using the knife to block Nick's sword. Nick used his arm, but Leif used his cylinder with incredible dexterity, blocking Sasha's shots and swinging it towards Nick, blocking his punches and deflecting the beams. Nick gritted his teeth, "We...Are **nothing**...Like YOU!!" Nick shouted back, slamming his palm to the cylinder and unleashing all his remaining lightning dust. But it flew off the cylinder. The force pushed Leif back though, and as he turned to recover, he had to block Sasha's shot with the knife, which snapped and flew out of his hand. "You say that...But that's bullshit. We're alike...I think you know it...But don't want to admit it..." Leif said. Leif thought quick and raised the cylinder over his shoulder, , blocking Nick's blade, covered in earth dust. The blow knocked the wind out of Leif though, and he stumbled forward as Sasha began to run around to his front. Nick swung with his left arm, and Leif blocked, also with his left arm...His aura barely kept his arm from breaking as Nick threw him against a tree. Leif's breathing was heavy as Sasha got into position, and began shooting at him again, "Maybe...But who the fuck cares!!! We're ten strong, and we're going to take you **and** Xellos down!!!" she shouted through her shots. Leif smirked though, heaving the cylinder around to block again. "Maybe...Maybe not!!!" Nick's eyes widened as he saw it before it came. He jumped back and covered his blade in wind dust, then raised his hand towards Sasha, keeping on the wind canister. Leif raised the cylinder above his head and the sides of the cylinder released, the rings falling outward and pointing in all directions. Sasha raised her blade to block, but couldn't cover all of the needles...And she knew it. He pulled the trigger and the needles fired in all directions, in several heights of waves. Nick swung his blade and fired the wind dust from his hand towards Sasha. The wind from his sword blazed forward, blowing away the needles that flew towards him. The wind beam struck Sasha's blade and tossed her back slightly, but the impact created a small vortex that blew away the needles that threatened her.

Leif slumped against the tree. Sasha jumped up and looked towards Nick. They nodded to eachother and both ran towards Leif. Leif struggled to stand and raised his cylinder in front of him as Sasha came towards him first. Sasha's eyes lit up and her body was covered in a shining green aura as she brought as much strength forward as she could bare. She slammed her foot into the ground to gain footing and swung as hard as she could for Leif's cylinder...The blade swam right through the dense metal, cutting the cylinder clean in half, and moving all the way through the tree he was just leaning on, cutting it from the trunk as well. Leif's eyes widened as Nick came up, slamming his left hand into Leif's shoulder, breaking the bone in Leif's upper arm and tossing him back against another tree and forcing him to drop the top half of the cylinder. Nick didn't hesitate to cover his blade with ice and jam it into Leif's right arm, sticking the end of the blade into the tree. Leif screamed as the ice from the blade crawled over his arm and shoulder, over his torso and neck...Sasha stood up on the trunk of the tree as it fell, still holding her blade in both hands. Nick calmed his heartbeat as Leif continued to scream and gasp over the ice and the blade in his arm, but his shouts petered out as the ice numbed his body and started turning his extremities purple. He raised what little aura he could to try and stop the damage...He breathed heavily, looking up at Nick and Sasha. He closed his eyes, "You win..." his voice shuttered from the ice. Nick cracked the ice over his throat so he could speak clearly. His breathing didn't slow down, but he began to laugh...He opened his mouth to reveal a small pill...Sasha and Nick's eyes widened as he chomped down and swallowed. "DAMNIT!!" Nick shouted. Leif chuckled again, "Take it easy...That pill was...A Semblance...Suppressor." he wheezed out. "I thought poisons didn't affect you?" she thought outloud. Leif nodded, "It's a semblance...I can switch it off if I want...And now I can't use it at all...Do me a favor...I'd like to go out with my own needles...I've never experienced sickness or poison...If I'm gonna die...I can't think of a better way." he choked. Nick gritted his teeth. "You're not gonna die. We're bringing you in. You've got as much to answer for as Xellos..." he growled. Leif chuckled a little more, "I may have lied a little bit. That pill contained a really slow-acting poison. I'm a dead man...Now or later, it doesn't matter. You'll get nothing from me even if you wanted it. Have some compassion and give me a quick death...The ice is a nice touch..." he muttered casually. Nick's eyes widened, "Fuck...Fuck fuck FUCKETY  **MOTHERFUCKER.** " he screamed. 

Nick paced for a minute, considering what to do. Sasha offered to just behead him and be done with it, but Nick shook his head. "Fine...We'll do this your way..." he muttered to Leif, walking over to one of the halves of his cylinder and reaching down to take a needle. "Left...A little more...That one. That's the fasted poison I've got. Meant to drop a man in ten seconds flat. Kills the heartbeat and simultaneously cuts the aura, turning off the brain in the process...It's my most powerful creation..." he muttered. His voice was becoming more silent by the minute and his breath was leveling out. Nick pulled out three of the needles in question and walked over to him. He cracked the ice over Leif's heart and looked him in the eye. "You planned this...Didn't you...Just one big suicide mission then?" he muttered to him. Leif nodded, "Everything...I lost...Everything. The one thing...That ever brought me...Happiness...After my life was taken...From me...Is gone...But I don't blame you...No..." he muttered. Sasha came up besides Nick, "Who  **do** you blame?" she asked. Leif chuckled softly, "That...Is the right...Question. And you...Already know...I blame...Him." he muttered. Nick frowned, closing his eyes for a minute. "It was always going...To end this way for me..." Leif muttered. With the last of his strength, he lifted his hand and pointed. Nick quickly jammed one needle into his heart, one into his neck, and one into his temple. He died immediately. Nick swallowed, "What was the point of picking the poisonous ones...He was gonna die immediately anyway...And he knew it." he muttered. Sasha glanced at his hand for a minute and noticed his pointing finger. She frowned and turned, looking over the clearing in the direction he was pointing. It took her a moment to realize what he'd pointed to. She jammed her blade into the stump and ran over to pick up the stone he'd been carving. She looked it over in her hand. She found on it was carved what she could only think was Iskelle's symbol. She turned the rock over a bit and found a note carved in, 'CYLINDER. 4R-2. 2L-3.' Sasha frowned as Nick walked up next to her. "What's that?" he asked. She handed him the stone and walked back over to the cylinder. She picked up the bottom half and began to look carefully around the rings. "What the fuck is four r dash two? Or two L dash three?" he asked. Sasha shook her head and found what it was she suspected he was hinting at. Nick walked back over as she reached in carefully, avoiding the needles with caution and pulling out a piece of paper that had been rolled into a small needle slot...

Nick's eyes widened in realization as he picked up the handle as Leif would, in his right hand. Under his four fingers, there were four triggers, and two on the side with his thumb. He pressed the pinky trigger twice and the second trigger with his thumb three times. "Fourth trigger on the right side twice...Second trigger on the left side three times..." he muttered, waving it to Sasha. "Bet he didn't expect me to chop his cylinder in half..." she responded. She unfurled the paper and looked it over. "This is...His suicide note?" she asked. Nick sat down on the stump and leaned against her sword. "Alright...Let's hear what it says..." he asked. Sasha walked around and sat on the other side of the blade, also leaning against it and cleared her throat. 

'To Team JNAS,

As I write this...I find that I've many things to say...And yet few words left to say them with. So I'll try to keep it brief. My first message is to my apparent rivals. Nick and Sasha. I would like you two to understand something...You are both very capable fighters. And I predict it will be you two and you two alone who come to face me at the time of my death. And when the time comes, to be honest, I will be relieved and happy. Happy that it was you two. I see Iskelle in Sasha. She used to be like you...And Nick, I used to be like you. It's incredible, really...And take it from me. Hold onto eachother. You're in for the fight of your lives. To the other two, Jay and Anna...To be honest, you two are just as similar. I can see what Iskelle and I were...Before this. In you two...You remind me of how me and Iskelle were together before this happened...I'm not sure if you two think of eachother like that... But something tells me you will. You two are my OTP right now...

Now...I've got several things to say...I don't blame any of you. That just wouldn't be fair...No. This is Xellos' fault. Plain and simple. He's to blame for all of the destruction that will come to pass if he has his way. You have to stop him...Me and Iskelle...We weren't strong enough. But...I believe you are. In the center of my cylinder, I've prepared for you a uniquely concentrated Semblance Suppressor poison...You'll have to break open the cylinder to get to it. I've placed it closer to the bottom of it though. You should be good if you break it at about half-way. I want you to take it and jam in into Xellos' stomach. You won't be able to fire it at him or use my needles. His armor is too powerful. Bring him down. This poison will shut down his Semblance for a good three days. He'll be helpless...If anyone can do this, I trust you to...One more thing...Be careful. I'm not entirely sure that Xellos is in this on his own. Every three days or so, he runs off to make some sort of report. I've only recently learned this, and want to pass it on. Xellos may be incredibly overpowered...But everyone has their master. I have no idea how deep the roots of this run. I'd like you guys to find out for me. Whatever you have to do...Bring him to justice for his crimes. And anyone above him. If such an entity exists, they're as much to blame as Xellos or more so. All I ask...Is that you make. Them. PAY.

Thank you...

-Leif Malladus.

P.S., I wrapped a map of the freighter around the canister containing the suppressant. It's detailed...It shows the location of armed forces in the boat and the surrounding waters. It also shows the layout of the Grimm within the boat. Perhaps it'll be of help...'

Sasha stopped reading...Nick was staring at Leif's body now, and realizing that both he and Iskelle were nothing but the victims of whatever was going on. He was livid at the thought. He stood as Sasha did. "We're burying him..." he muttered. Sasha nodded as he switched to the earth canister. After preparing a spot to bury him, Sasha brought over his body and jumped into the hole, carefully putting him down with the remains of his cylinder. She carefully extracted the long canister of poison he'd mentioned and leapt back out. They took the displaced dirt and began to cover his body...Sasha folded the note and put it in her pocket, going over and removing her blade from the stump and sheathing it again. Nick walked back over and took her right hand in his left as they walked silently back to Beacon together...To prepare for their team's fight with the demon god, Xellos...

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> ATTENTION. FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO SEE THE ARTWORK, UNFORTUNATELY, AT THE REQUEST OF OUR ARTIST, IT HAS BEEN REMOVED FOR THE TIME BEING. I WILL LET YOU KNOW IF/WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO REPOST THE ART. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.


End file.
